How Drag Icon Chiquitita Uses Photography to Preserve Her Memories

[Chiquitita] If I was not born a boy,

I think my life would have turned out completely different.

My name is Chiquitita AKA Cheeky.

I am a 23-year-old visual artist here in New York City

and I have been doing drag since I was 16.

I never really looked like a boy or acted like a boy.

I actually used to be not necessarily ashamed to be Latina,

but I felt shamed by Latin people because of my flamboyancy.

There's a lot of homophobia, transphobia

in Hispanic culture, unfortunately.

I am Salvadorian.

I am a Latina.

How can I accept this very large part of who I am?

I need to be proud of this.

How am I going to get there?

I started performing a lot of songs in Spanish,

or just expressing that side of myself more.

When I decided on what I wanted my name to be.

I landed on Chiquitita so that people knew

that I was undeniably Hispanic

and that that was in my blood and that would never go away.

I definitely feel the most myself on stage.

Performing is my entire life.

The stage is my home.

It gets me back to a good place.

Up until I discovered makeup,

I think I was very ashamed of what I look like.

And that moment for me was very transformative.

Seeing my entire journey through life,

through images as a baby, as a child,

with a bowl cut, [laughs]

with my hair dyed, learning how to do makeup,

learning how to perform.

It's all a part of me and my transitional journey.

And it makes me excited for my future.